SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

118 Appendix I: The Gist of Sōtō Zenbegan to exert influence over Chinese society. Work in theselarge Zen monasteries is divided among the monks; some do thecooking, some do the cleaning, others attend to farming, etc.Such work is designated samu (working meditation) in the ZenSchool. In the Serene Reflection School equal importance isattached both to samu and to purely religious matters.If we probe deeply into our hearts, we shall arrive at ournature which is identical with that of Buddha. Since all thingsare based on the Buddha Mind, we might say all things have thesame value as just-sitting meditation. It is for this reason thatZen has achieved such spiritual depth in China. Accordingly,no matter where we are or what work we do, we can always livein the meditative spirit. Once we have realized the essence ofthis spirit, we can free ourselves from a narrow interpretationof Scripture and look at it with detachment. We might say thatwe are no longer ÒturnedÓ (controlled) by the Scripture, butÒturnÓ (control) it ourselves. [The first Scripture given by theBuddha was termed Òthe turning of the wheel of the Law.ÓEditorÕs note.]It is evident that in order to lead a collective life, we mustestablish a certain set of rules which will govern our relationswith each other. Such rules are called shingi. Since the Chinesehave traditionally placed emphasis on ritual and ceremony, it isonly likely that they would attach much importance to shingi.This also enabled Zen monks to establish their own independent